Since the late 20th century computational technology has continued to improve exponentially. More recently, the focus of concern has been about artificial intelligence, and the effect the constantly evolving technology will have on everyone as time goes on. Professor Von Stackelberg intends to give his creative writing students a crash course in how to best make use of the burgeoning tech, experimenting with both chatbots and image generators and how they can be used to assist in creative projects. One assignment asked students to generate images that told a short, cohesive story. In theory, all someone would need is a vague outline of ideas, then the generated images can be refined further and further until the creator is satisfied. Dr. Stackelberg wants his students to use AI as “just another tool,” the assignment intended to demonstrate the potential usefulness another pseudo-mind can have during creative projects. AI can act almost as another person to bounce ideas off of, giving creators the chance to see their scenes from a completely different angle with the ability to tweak features however they want. Being offered a broader perspective is an invaluable aspect of the artistic process, and artificial intelligence could potentially make that process much more accessible.
Concerns about AI being capable of replacing creatives have been rampant since the technology began to take off, culminating in the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike in Hollywood where union members argued for, among other things, job security against generative AI. While Dr. Stackelberg encourages the use of AI as an extra tool available to writers, he emphasizes that people using it to completely replace humans are missing the real benefit of the technology.
AI can be extremely helpful if handled correctly, “We can use it to develop our full human potential,” he says when asked for comment about the potential misuse of artificial intelligence in academia.
Change is constant, and it appears that AI is here to stay. Ideally, it will make things easier. But as a tool available to everyone it’s important to be discerning.
“Don’t try to use this as a way of not thinking,” he warns.